My first thought - you are crazy to use a ductless. But I read your post and my answer is going to be really easy - don't put a vent hood in. There is a custom house that was for sale next to us when the people couldn't close. I think as a cost saving matter, they had no vent. They had what I'm guess is a mantle type cabinet (I'm not exactly sure what that is but I think I know). You looked up from the range and it was a flat piece of painted drywall. I'm sure they installed a light or two. That gives you power in case you ever want a vent. As an aside, it turns out they roughed the duct in, so I'm thinking that they wanted a nice hood so where going to wait until after closing. This is all in a strict inspection/code town. Forgive me if I get the terms confused but in my mind there is a liner a blower and a hood. I think you already have a planned cabinet hood (mantle type) so you aren't really asking about a hood. It is the liner and blower. I would be surprised if anyone made what you are looking for. There are recirc vent hoods but they wouldn't be invisible or covered by a cabinet. You could probably take the guts of a ventless hood and make what you want very easily.

Not necessarily, jakabedy. At our last house, we had a 30" vent hood that ducted behind the cabinet, up through the ceiling, and out the attic. Our handyguy used a flat rectangular duct and mounted the cabinet however many inches in front of it. It was awesome to have a full cabinet there, although the option to put the duct inside the cabinet (cutting out top, bottom, and shelves) is still preferable to me to a visible chimney. I also have modest kitchens, so I'd just really like the storage. Above-stove storage has always been my baking ingredient area and I'd hate to lose it.

We GC'd our own kitchen reno and it went beautifully. None of ours was DIY, all subtrades were pros, and we were without a kitchen for less than a month. A lot of excellent advice above. We found the keys to success were: 1) Personal recommendations for all the trades. And by that I mean we'd either had personal prior experience with them, or we knew people who had. I don't mean that we called their supplied references, I mean they were referenced from people *we* already knew. If you can't do that re. being new to an area, or other reasons, I would reconsider being your own GC. 2) A lot of pre-planning. We didn't rush into the reno, we planned it in some detail over the course of 6-8 months. We had all the supplies (tile, lighting, sinks, faucets, etc ordered and delivered in advance, and the appliances ordered and paid for with delivery scheduled in advance). We planned the timeline in detail as well which leads to the next point: 3) Once you've started, stick to your schedule RELIGIOUSLY! When you're dealing with many subtrades (in our case there were the electricians, tiler, cabinet maker, gas fitter, quartz fabricator/installer, disposal bin firm, and then contractors who did cab tear-out, plumbing, ductwork for the range, drywalling, appliance install, painting, and a bunch of other things) you have to manage the timeline very carefully. None of these guys are going to care if your project gets delayed for some unrelated reason and you want them to come a few days later at the last minute ... they have jobs lined up for other customers that they need to honor. So if you do NOTHING else, ensure that you have every single thing planned and ready for each trade when they arrive. Because they need to get in and out of your job on time or your are screwed (and by screwed I mean potentially without a kitchen for months, and you can't know how painful that is until you've been without one for even a week or so, it's horrible). 4) As mentioned above, make sure you can have someone home at all times. There are always little things that come up (do you want the cab handle at the top or the bottom, do you want the faucet this way or that, light here or there a few inches, etc.) We had the flexibility to work from home when needed (main contractors, tiler, and cabinet and counter installers), but other work we had done evenings and weekend (electrician, gas fitter, etc.). 5) Check for any issues regularly, and before you let the trade go for the day. Keep detailed lists of what you want, and check each item at end of each day and before you let the trade go. E.g., if the item is "prep faucet installed", you check that it's installed the way you want it, facing the right way, the spray hose pulls out properly, it doesn't leak, etc., before you cross it off your list ... but if there are any issues you can either get it fixed right away before paying, if it's at the end of a job, or put it on your list for next day to have fixed if that same trade is back). So bottom line, if you can be there during the job and more importantly if you are organized enough to plan, plan, and plan some more, you can get a fabulous job done and save a boatload in the process. Don't be scared of doing it yourself if you have the time to plan and prepare. Good luck to you!

theoretically - I've always had to foot the bill to replace all the stuff my GCs subs had damaged To paraphrase from Rudyard Kipling's Kim: A GC is greatest blessing if of best sorts. Otherwise no earthly use. Our kitchen GC was fine about fixing anything that was his or his subs mistake at no expense to us except for at the very very end we disagreed about whether installation was done correctly. We hired someone else to correct it since he didn't accept that it was a problem. It was a small expense in the total scope of the remodel and we were willing to just pay it, but when he learned we were bringing someone else, he fired us (cancelled our contract). The remaining small payment that would have been due him covered fixing the hood installation and a bit of paint touch up that was all that was left so that was fine with us. The GC that did our family room and flooring was great - he had done a few small jobs for us before and we've always been happy with his subs. Only once have we had one of his subs cause damage: the guy pulling Cat 6 wiring broke through the drywall where the wall meets the ceiling in two spots on the other side of the wall from the outlet. Our GC was more upset at him then we were when we found it and had the sub send someone else out to fix it and check the installation.